Every bass fisherman dreams about catching a 10-pound-plus bass. Surprisingly very few, and that includes tournament fishermen, ever do. To catch a 15-pounder is almost unheard of.
Fred Williams of Kelseyville achieved that once-in-a-lifetime dream Saturday when he reeled in a 15.4-pound largemouth bass while fishing near Shag Rock at Clear Lake. Williams said he was drifting a live jumbo minnow on 10-pound test line in his favorite fishing hole when the monster struck. He said the fish made a number of runs before he could get it near the boat to net it. The fish was 28 inches long and weighed 15.4 pounds on Williams” digital scale. Two other anglers fishing nearby also weighed the fish on their scales and all came within an ounce or two of 15.4 pounds.
Williams said he always releases the bass he catches but unfortunately this one died almost immediately after being netted.
“It was like he suffered a heart attack,” Williams said.
The good news is that he got a number of photos of the huge bass.
Department of Fish and Game (DFG) fishery biologist Jay Rowan said the bass was probably 12-15 years old and the stress of being caught more than likely caused its death.
“A bass that size is nearly always very old and nearing the end of its life. It”s like an 80-year-old human trying to run a marathon,” Rowan said. “I”m not surprised the fish died,” he added.
Williams gave the fish to another fisherman in a nearby boat who planned to eat it.
According to my records, the last time a bass weighing more than 15 pounds was caught in Clear Lake was back in 1994 and that was during a tournament. There have probably been fewer than five bass caught in the history of the lake that have weighed more than 15 pounds. To put Williams” fish in perspective, the lake record for largemouth bass was set in 1990 when Jerry Basgal of Lakeport caught a 17.52-pounder. That bass was 27 inches long, which is an inch shorter than the fish Williams caught. Basgal”s bass was estimated to be at least 15 years old.
Williams” bass was certain to be Florida-strain bass. In fact, biologists say it”s doubtful there are any pure northern largemouth bass left in the lake. The DFG planted Florida-strain bass in Clear Lake between 1969-71. Studies done a few years later showed that all the bass were either pure Florida or Florida-northern largemouth mix. Williams” bass also shows just how few bass weighing more than 15 pounds are in the lake.
Local fishing guide Ross England, who normally guides on Clear Lake at least 200 days per year, said his clients catch only one or two 10-pounders a year and he often uses live jumbo minnows as bait. The DFG has electro-shocked bass on Clear Lake for many years and out of the thousands of bass shocked only one weighed 12 pounds.
Whereas it would have been nice if Williams” fish had survived so that it could have been released back into the lake, the good news is it has already passed on its genes to thousands of juvenile bass. The bass also didn”t go to waste. If it had been caught in a tournament it also would have died. Rarely does a bass of that size survive after being hauled around in a livewell for several hours.
Bass, like all wildlife, have high mortality rates. The average adult bass rarely lives past 10 years and most only four or five years. Unlike humans, which can be treated by a doctor and receive vaccinations to ward off diseases, a creature in the wild either recovers on its own or dies. A bass will continue to grow its entire life and the amount of growth depends on the food supply. Clear Lake has an excellent food supply and that”s one reason the bass grow so big.
